Hinge for umbrella-ribs.



M- G. MOMILLAN.

HINGE FOB. UMBRELLA RIBS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 14, 1913.

Patented July 14, 191% Gwen/wags,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES C. MGIVIILLAN, 0F WILMINGTON, OHIO.

HINGE ron UMBRELLA-RIBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. November 14, 1913. Serial No. 801,055.

To ibfiovie it may concern Be it known that I, Mosns C. MCMILLAN,.

aren ribs and is in the nature of an impr'ovei'nent upon the patentgranted to John V. Baird March 15th, 1910, No; 951,898.

This patent in common with others discloses.

the idea of a rib ointed between its ends so that the outer portionthereof can be folded upon the inner portion, folding the cover betweenthem, thus reduciiig the length of the umbrella and enabling the same tobe. packed in a small space, such, for example, The main problem to besolved in producing a foldable rib of this kind isthat of providing ahinge which will hold the ribs rigidlyin their extended posi tionsand'which will permit them to be quickly and easily moved into theirextended positions or folded. As a general rule it is necessaryeither toimpart some lengthwise, or lateral movement to one part of the ribinorderto disengage the fastening device or to manipulate the fasteningdevice itself; Such constructions are unsatisfactory for First, it makesthe folding; process a rather slow and tedious one and destroysanypopularity the umbrella might In the second place, the. fasteningdevices usually present projections as a hand two reasons.

otherwise have.

or -parts which will pinch or catch in the cover and are liable totearor injure the same. I Q

The object of the present invention is to provide a hinge for anumbrella rib which can be moved into either its folded or its extendedposition by the mere application of pressure to the outer portion of therib in the direction in which itis desired to move the same and whichwill be firmly held in its extended position.

Further, it is an object of the invention to provide such a hinge whichwill have no projecting parts or catches which are likely to snagorinjure the fabric of the umbrella cover; and further, to-provide sucha hinge 'hich can be very easily and economically manufactured; v v U Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view showing one-ofthe ribs of an umbrella with my invention applied thereto Fig. 2 is aplan view ofthe hinge; Fig. 3 is a transverse, sectional view, taken onthe line 00 x of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4c is a perspective View of ahingeshowing the two portions thereof partially folded. 1 In these drawings Ihave illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the sameas applied to an umbrella comprisa rod, to the upper portion ofwhich'the are pivoted in the usiial manner. I have shown but onecomplete rib and this is provided with my improved hinge, This ribisdivided between its ends, preferably near the center thereof into twoparts. That portion of the rib which is pivotally connected to the rodmay be called the inner portion and is indicated by the referencenumeral 1. The other portion of the rib, 2,

Patented July 14,1914.

which is pivoted to the outer end of the"= portion 1 of the may betermed'the outer port on. Both portions of the, rib are provided attheir adjacent ends with hinge members 3 and 4, respectively, whichmembers.

are rigidly secured to the respective pdrtions of the rib. The hingemember 8 is substantially U-shaped in cross section and is pivotallyconnected ata point remote from its -outerend to the inner end of thehinge member 4:; 7 At the point of connection with the other hingemember the side wallsof the U-shaped hinge member are substantiallyparallel but the forward portion oft-he upper edge of one of the sidewalls of the U-shaped'member 3 is bent inward, as shown at 5, to form a'lip. This'lipvaries in width from a point. near the point of connectionwith the hinge membera to the outer end thereof so that the edge of thelip is oblique to the length of the rib. The hinge member 4 is adaptedto fit into the U-shaped port-ion when the two portions ofthe rib are intheir extended position and, as shown in Fig. 3, the side walls of thehinge member 4 converge downwardly so as to give the rib atapered shapein cross section." Consequently, when the hinge member is moved aboutits pivot to bring it into alinement with the member 3 the inclined sidewall will engage the oblique edge of the hp 5 and" made will cause thelip to spring back into its normal position and will thus cause it toengage the top of the hinge member 4. The upper portion of the hingemember being broad and curved about a relatively long radius thecontacting surface of the two hinge members will be such thatconsiderable pressure must be applied to the. outer member in order toforce the lip 5 out of engagement therewith and allow the two hingemembers to be folded one upon the other. Consequently, the lip serves tovery firmly secure the two hinge members in their extended positions.

To assist in holding the hinge member 4 against that side of theU-shaped hinge member which has the lip 5,1

,I haveprovided the opposite wall of the U-shaped-member with aninwardly and downwardly extending portion 6 which constitutes aresilientwall or sprin bearing against the side of the hinge mem or land thehinge is in either its extended or itsfolded position there are noprojecting parts or catches which might interfere with the vhandling ofthe device or injure the cover.

Further, it willbe apparent that when the device is" inits extendedposition the rib will be very rigid and not adapted to 'bemoved aboutits hinge byany ordinary pres-j sure applied to the umbrella; thatthe'hinge} can -be .folded or moved intoits extended, position andlocked there by a direct pressure inthe direction of the movementdesired. Moreover, the hinge is capable of being made of two pieces ofmetal, as shown inv the drawings, which may be folded into,

the desired shapes, thereby enabling the hinge to be manufactured veryecono-mi: cally', at the same time giving an added strength thereto. 1 V

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention it willbe understood that this has been chosen for the purpose of illustrationonly and that I do not desire to be limited to the details ofconstruction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occurto a person skilled in the art.

, Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: 1. Ahinge of the character described com-' prising two members, one of saidmembers having .atsubstantially U-shaped portion of resilient materialand the other of said memof said second hinge member. y p

described comand retain the same lip.

bers being pivotally connected at'its end between the walls of saidU-shaped portion'of the first-mentioned hinge member at a point remotefrom the end of said U-shaped portion, the'edge of one of the side wallsof said U-shaped portion of said first-mentioned hinge member beingbenttoward the other wall of said-hinge member to form a hp, said liphaving its edge extending obliquely to the length of said hinge mem herand arranged to be engaged by the lastmentioned hinge member to causesaid lip to move laterally to permit said last-mentioned hinge member toenter the space between the side walls of the U-shaped hinge member andto lie beneath said lip when the latter has returnedto its normalposition.

2. A hinge of the character described comprising two members, one ofsaid members having a U-shaped portion and the second member beingpivotallyv connected between the walls of said U-shaped member atxapoint remote from the end thereof, one of the walls of said U -shapedportion having-v one edge bent' inward to cause it to extend obliquelyto the length of said hinge member,'-said second hinge member having itsside walls converging downwardly and having its'upperedge of a widthgreater than;

its lower edge, whereby as said second hinge member is moved intoalineinent with said U-shaped hinge member its side wall will engagesaid obliquely extending lip and,

move the same laterally to permit said sec- 0nd hinge member to passbetween the walls of said U-shaped hinge member and to permit said lipto engage the wide upper edge 8. A hinge of the character prising two=members, one having a U- shaped portion and the; other being pivotallyconnected between the walls of said .U-shaped portion at a point remotefrom the end thereof, one of the wallsof said U- shaped portion havingits upper edge bent inward to cause it to extend obliquely to the lengthof the hinge member, wherebyas the last-mentioned hinge member is movedinto alinement with the first-mentioned hinge member it will engage saidobliquely extending lip and move the same laterally to permit said hingemember to pass beneath saidlip, that side of said U-shaped hinge memberopposite the side having the lip being provided with a portion. to bearagainst "said last-mentioned hinge member in' engagement with said 4. Ahinge of the character described comprising two members, one having a U-shaped portion and the other being pivotally connected to said U-shapedportion and adapted to be moved into a position between the side wallsthereof, one of the side walls of said U-shaped portion having aliparranged to extend above the last-mentioned hinge member and serving tomove the same hinge member When said last-mentioned toward that sideWall which has the lip. 10 hinge member lies between the side Walls ofIn testimony whereof, I aflix my signature said U-shaped hinge memberand the other in presence of two Witnesses.

side Wall of said U-shaped hinge member MOSES C. MCMILLAN. "having aresilient portion extending in- Witnesses:

wardly and downwardly therefrom in a po- J. C. LINTON,

sition to be engaged by said last-mentioned J. W. SPARKS. V

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, I

Washington, D. 0."

